97T>.7L6^. 
B3H?8a 


Horner,  Judge  Henry 

Abraham  Lincoln?  the  Amer? 
can  ideal 


LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


____ 

Abraham  Lincoln 

The  American  Ideal 


By 

JUDGE  HENRY  HORNER 

of  the  Probate  Court  of 
Cook      County,     Illinois 


The  Chicago  Journal  asked 
Judge  Horner  to  write  an  ap- 
propriate Lincoln  birthday 
article  and  he  chose  "Lincoln  as 
the  American  Ideal." 


973.7  UA 

Abraham  Lincoln 

The  American  Ideal 


By  JUDGE   HENRY   HORNER 

Big,  busy,  energetic  Chicago,  vi- 
brating with  the  motion  and  life  of 

its  population  of  more  than  3,000,000 
souls,  engulfed  in  a  turmoil  of  com- 
mercial enterprise,  finds  a  leisure  mo- 
ment now  and  then,  it  happily  can 
be  said,  to  pause  at  the  altar  of  coun- 
try and  do  homage  to  the  better  im- 
pulses of  a  profound  and  undying 
idealism. 

So  long  as  this  spirit  prevails,  our 
citizenship  is  not  endangered  by 
unhealthy  mate- 
rialism. It  au- 
gurs well  for  our 
present  and  fu- 
ture citizenship, 
when  busy  men 
and  women  tem- 
per their  onward 
rush  of  personal 
achi  e  v  e  m  e  n  t 
with  intelligent 
thinking  of  coun- 
try's welfare  and 
future. 

To  permit  this 
holiday  for  the 
business 
engrossed  mind 
of  our  citizen- 
ship, this  week 
has  been  wisely 
set  aside  by  our 
far  -  visioned 
mayor,  as 
"American  Ideal 
Week,"      during 

which  all  Chicago,  by  word  and  deed, 
may  indicate  a  devotion  to  our  coun- 
try's ideals,  born  of  a  high  and  last- 
ing sense  of  true  patriotism. 

The  theme  of  the  "American  Ideal 
Week"  is  truly  vitalized  by  selecting 
for   its  celebration   the   week   within 


Abraham  Lincoln  taken 
m  Washington,  D.  C* 
in  1848. 

—Chicago  Historical 
Society   photo. 


2  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

which  falls  the  anniversary  of  the 
birth  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  for  Lin- 
coln, more  than  any  other  name  in 
American  life,  symbolizes  the  Amer- 
ican ideal. 

Real  American  Ideal 

What  is  the  American  ideal?  My  un- 
derstanding thereof  is  an  individual 
in  whom  the  best  standard  of  Amer- 
ican life  and  American  citizenship  is; 
completely   realized. 

In  the  character  of  Lincoln,  we  not 
only  realize  the  ideal,  but  idealize 
the  real.  It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to 
eulogize  Lincoln  for  his  character. 
His  deeds  and  his  words  speak  his  best 
eulogy.  I  doubt  if  any  intelligent  citi- 
zen of  our  country  is  without  some- 
knowledge  of  Lincoln's  work  and  ca- 
reer, and  few  have  been  uninfluenced 
by  his  life. 

During  the  sixty  years  since 
his  death,  more  than  1,000  books  have- 
been  published 
ibout  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  tens 
of  thousands  of 
essays,  poems  and 
addresses.  His 
career  has  been 
described  and  his 
character  has 
been  analyzed;  he 
has  been  sung 
and  praised  and 
glorified  until 
history,  philos- 
ophy, eloquence 
and  poetry  are 
exhausted  and  no 
new  things  re- 
main  to  be  said. 

While  he  was 
born  more  than  Lincoln  always  said  this 
a  century  ago,  picture  helped  carry 
and  lived  his  life  him  to  the  white  house. 
in     the     days     of  —Chicago  Historical 

the   pioneer,   yet  Society   photo, 

his  acts  and  words  and  attitude  in  re- 
lation to  the  duties  of  citizenship,  to 
good  morals  and  to  his  country  are 
appropriate  to  the  life  and  manners 
and   habits  of  the  present  day. 


THE  AMERICAN  IDEAL       3 

The  progress  of  mankind  in  the 
sciences — the  adding  of  electricity,  the 
automobile,  the  aeroplane  and  the 
radio  to  our  daily  experiences — has 
not  changed  the  old  American  ideal  of 
morals  and  patriotic  citizenship,  and" 
Lincoln's  words,  so  appropriate  sev- 
eral generations  ago,  are  still  beacons 
and  compasses  for  the  actions  of  the 
citizens  of  today.  Is  it  not  worthy  of 
the  occasion  to  restate  some  of  them? 

REVERENCE   FOR  LAW 

What  a  blessing  if  this  generation 
that  has  distinguished  itself  by  its 
apparent  disrespect  of  law,  could 
nroduce  another  Lincoln,  who,  as  a 
living  monitor,  would,  in  person,  re- 
mind us  of  our  duties  and  responsibil- 
ities as  they  are  recalled  when  we 
think  of  the  following  words  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  on  this  subject: 

Let  every  American,  every  lover  of 
liberty,  every  well-wisher  to  his  poster- 
ity, swear  by  the  blood  of  the  revolu- 
tion never  to  violate  in  the  least  particu- 
lar the  laws  of  the  country  and  never 
to  tolerate  their  violation  by  others.  As 
the  patriots  of  '76  died  to  the  support  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  so  to 
the  support  of  the  consitution  and  laws 
let  every  American  pledge  his  life,  ais 
property  and   sacred  honor. 

Let  every  man  remember  that  to  vio- 
late the  law  is  to  trample  on  the  blood 
of  his  father,  and  to  tear  the  charter  of 
his  own  and  his  children's  liberty.  Let 
reverence  for  the  law  be  breathed  by 
every  American  mother  to  the  lisping 
babe  that  prattles  on  her  lap;  let  it  be 
taught  in  schools,  in  seminaries  and  in 
colleges;  let  it  be  written  in  primers, 
spelling  books  and  almanacs;  let  It  be 
preached  from  the  pulpit,  proclaimed  in 
the  legislative  halls  and  enforced  In 
courts  of  justice.  In  short,  let  it  become 
the  political  religion  of  the  nation. 

LIQUOR  QUESTION 

Lincoln  had  decided  views  on  the 
liquor  question.  He  earnestly  believed 
in  temperance.  His  views  as  to  how 
the  habits  of  the  people  can  best  be 
shaped  is  stated  in  his  address  to  the 
Washington  Temperance  society  of 
Springfield.  111.,  on  Feb.  22,  1842,  In 
these  words: 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


But  I  have  said  that  denunciations 
against  dramsellers  and  dram-drinkers 
are  unjust,  as  well  as  impolitic.  Let  us 
see.  J  h«vf  not  inquired  at  what  period 
of  time  the  use 
of  intoxicating 
liquors  com- 
menced; nor  is 
it  important  to 
k  n  o  w.  It  is 
sufficient  that 
to  all  of  us  who 
now  inhabit  the 
world,  the  prac- 
tice of  drinking, 
then,  is  just  as- 
old  as  the  world 
itself — that  is, 
we  have  seen 
the  one  just  as 
long  as  we  have 
seen  the  other. 
When  all  such 
of  us  as  have 
now  reached  the 
years  of  matur- 
ity first  opened 
Lincoln  in  1854  as  a  our  eyes  upon 
lawyer.  He  practiced  the  stage  of  ex- 
in   Chicago.  i  s  t  e  n  c  e,      we 

Chicago  Historical  found  intoxica- 
Society  photo.  ting  liquor  rec- 
ognized by  everybody,  used  by  every- 
body, repudiated  by  nobody.  It  com- 
monly entered  into  the  first  draught  of 
the  infant  and  the  last  draught  of  the 
dying  man.  From  the  sideboard  of  the 
parson  down  to  the  ragged  pocket  of  the 
houseless  loafer,  it  was  constantly  found. 
Physicians  prescribed  it  in  this,  that,  and 
the  other  disease;  the  government  pro- 
vided it  for  soldiers  and  sailors;  and  to 
have  a  rolling  or  raising,  a  husking  or 
"hoedown,"  anywhere  about  without  it 
was  positively  insufferable. 

Backed  by  Public  Opinion 

So,  too,  it  was  everywhere  a  respect- 
able article  of  manufacture  and  merchan- 
dise. The  making  of  it  was  regarded 
as  an  honorable  livelihood,  and  he  who 
could  make  most  was  the  most  enter- 
prising and  respectable.  Large  and 
small  manufactories  of  it  were  every- 
where erected,  in  which  all  the  earthly 
goods  of  their  Owners  were  invested. 
Wagons  drew  it  from  town  to  town; 
boats  bore  it  from  clime  to  clime;  and 
the  winds  wafted  it  from  nation  to  na- 
tion, and  merchants  bought  and  sold  it, 
by  wholesale  and  retail,  with  precisely 
the  same  feelings  on  the  part  ot  the 
seller,  buyer  and  bystander  as  are  felt 
at  the  selling  and  buying  of  plows,  feed, 


THE  AMERICAN  IDEAL       5 

bacon,  or  any  other  of  the  real  neces- 
saries of  life.  Universal  public  opinion 
not  only  tolerated  but  recognized  and 
adopted  its  use. 

It  is  true  that  even  then  it  was 
known  and  acknowledged  that  many  were 
greatly  injured  by  it;  but  none  seemed 
to  think  the  injury  arose  from  the  use 
of  a  bad  thing,  but  from  the  abuse  of  & 
very  good  thing.  The  victims  of  it 
were  to  be  pitied  and  compassionated, 
just  as  are  the  heirs  of  consumption 
and  other  hereditary  diseases.  Their  fail- 
ing was  treated  as  a  misfortune,  and 
hot  as  a  crime,   or  even  as  a  disgrace. 

Not  Easily  Overcome 
If,  then,  what  I  Slave  been  saying  is 
true,  is  it  wonderful  that  some  should 
think  and  act  now  as  all  thought  and 
acted  twenty  years  ago?  And  is  it  just 
to  assail,  condemn,  or  despise  them  for 
doing  so? 

The  universal  sense  of  mankind  on 
any  subject  is  an  argument,  or  at  least 
an  influence,  not  easily  overcome.  The 
success  of  the  argument  in  favor  of  the 
existence  of  an  overruling  Providence 
mainly  depends  upon  that  sense;  and 
men  ought  not  in  justice  to  be  denounced 
for  yielding  to  it  in  any  case,  or  giving 
it  up  slowly,  especially  when  they  are 
backed  by  interest,  fixed  habits  or  burn- 
ing appetites. 

It  is  worthy  of  thought  this  "Amer- 
ican Ideal  week,"  whether  drastic  leg- 
islation on  the  subject  of  prohibition 
is  as  effective  as  the  wisdom  and  tem- 
perance of  Lincoln. 

TOLERANCE 

Do  we  seek  a  code  of  American  fra- 
ternity and  tolerance?  If  so,  we  need 
but  turn  to  Lincoln'^  words  uttered 
in  1860*. 

"Let  us  at  all  times  remember  that 
all  American  citizens  are  brothers  of 
a  common  country  and  should  dwell 
together  in  the  bonds  of  fraternal  feel- 
ings." 

AGAINST   IDLENESS 

If  we  need  a  caution  against  lazi- 
ness   and    shiftlessness,    or    an    argn- 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


you    in 
same    diffi- 


ment  for  thrift  and  industry,  we  can 
turn  to  his  letter  written  in  1848  to 
his  stepbrother  Johnston: 

Dear    Johnston : 

Your  request  for  eighty  dollars,  I  do 
not  think  it  best  to  comply  with  now. 
At  the  various  times  when  I  have  helped 
you  a  little,  you  have  said  to  me,  "We 
can  get  along  very  well  now,"  but  in  a 
very  short  time 
I  find 
the 

culty  again. 
Now  this  can 
only  happen  by 
some  defect  in 
your  conduct. 
What  that  de- 
fect is,  I  think 
I  know.  You  are 
not  lazy,  and 
still  you  are  an 
idler.  I  doubt 
whether  since  I 
saw  you,  you 
have  done  a 
good  whole 
day's  work  in 
any  one  day. 
You  do  not  very 
much  dislike  to 
work,  and  still 
you  do  not 
work  much, 
merely  because 
it  does  not  seem 
to  you  that  you 
could  get  much  for  it.  This  habit  of 
uselessly  wasting  time  is  the  whole  diffi- 
culty; and  it  is  vastly  important  to  you, 
and  still  more  so  to  your  children,  that 
you  should  break  this  habit.  It  is  more 
important  to  them  because  they  have 
longer  to  live  and  can  keep  out  of  an 
idle  habit  before  they  are  in  it,  easier 
than  they  can  get  out  after  they  are  in. 


Finest  example  M  am- 
brotype;  made  in  Chi- 
cago  Feb.,    M57. 

—Chicago  Historical 
Society    photo. 


Tells   Brother   to   Work 

You  are  now  in  need  of  some  ready 
money;  and  what  I  propose  is,  that  you 
shall  go  to  work  "tooth  and  nail"  for 
somebody  who  will  give  you  money  for 
it.  Let  father  and  your  boys  take  charge 
of  things  at  home — prepare  for  a  crop, 
and  make  the  crop;  and  you  go  to  work 
for    the    best    money    wages,    or   in    dis- 


THE  AMERICAN  IDEAL 


charge  of  any  debt  you  owe,  that  you 
can  get.  And  to  secure  you  a  fair  re- 
ward for  your  labor.  I  now  promise 
you  that  for  every  dollar  you  will,  be- 
tween this  and  the  first  of  next  May, 
get  for  your  own  labor,  either  in  money 
or  in  your  own 
indebtedness,  I 
will  then  give 
you  one  other 
dollar.  By  this, 
if  you  hire  your- 
self at  ten  dol- 
lars a  month 
from  me  you 
will  get  ten 
more,  making 
twenty  dollars 
a  month  for 
your  work.  In 
this,  I  do  not 
mean  you  shall 
go  off  to  St. 
Louis,  or  the 
lead  mines,  or 
the  gold  mines, 
in  California, 
but   I   mean   for 

Picture  taken  in  1859  ,y°u  £  *°  "til 
when  the  white  house  f°r„  ^.'"S 
loomed    before    Lincoln.  ^    »»j£ 

^mtfXT1  in  CoUs  CoUnt^ 
Now  if  you 
will  do  this,  you  will  soon  be  <  out  of 
debt,  and  what  is  better,  you  will  have 
a  habit  tnat  will  keep  you  from  getting 
in  debt  again.  But  if  T  should  now 
clear  you  out,  next  year  you  will  be 
just  as  deep  in  as  ever.  You  say  you 
would  almost  give  your  place  in  Heaven 
for  $70  or  $80.  Then  ycu  value  your 
place  in  Heaven  very  cheaply,  for  I 
am  sure  you  can,  with  the  offer  I  make 
you,  get  the  seventy  or  eighty  dollars 
for  four  or  five  months'  work.  You  say 
if  I  furnish  you  the  money  you  will  deed 
me  the  land,  and  if  you  don't  pay  the 
money  back,  you  will  deliver  possession 
— Nonsense !  If  you  can't  now  live 
with  the  land,  how  will  you  then  live 
without  it?  You  have  always  been  kind 
to  me,  and  I  do  not  now  mean  to  be 
unkind  to  you.  On  the  contrary,  if  you 
will  but  follow  my  advice  you  will  find  it 
worth  more  than  eight  times  eighty  dol- 
lars to  you. 

Affectionately    your   brother, 

A.    LINCOLN. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


LABOR  AND  CAPITAL 

Seek  we  the  American  view  of  la- 
bor in  its  relation  to  capital,  we  need 
but  turn  to  his  annual  message  to 
congress  of  December,   1861: 

Labor  is  prior  to  and  independent  of 
capital.  Capital  is  only  the  fruit  of  la- 
bor, and  could  never  have  existed  if  labor 
had  not  first  existed.  Labor  is  the  supe- 
rior of  capital  and  deserves  much  the 
higher   consideration. 

And  again  to  a  committee  of  a 
Workingmen's  association  in  1864: 
The  strongest  bond  of  human  sympa- 
thy, outside  of  the  family  relation,  should 
be  one  uniting  all  working  people,  of  all 
nations,  and  tongues  and  kindreds.  Nor 
should  this  lead  to  a  war  upon  property, 
or  the  owners  of  property.  Property  is 
the  fruit  of  labor;  property  is  desirable; 
is  a  positive  good  to  the  world.  That 
some  should  be  rich  shows  that  others 
may  become  rich,  and  hence,  is  just  en- 
couragement to  energy  and  enterprise. 
Let  not  him  who  is  houseless  pull  down 
the  house  of  another,  but  let  him  labor 
diligently  and  build  one  for  himself,  thus 
by  example  assuring  that  his  own  shall 
be  safe  from  violence  when  built. 

LESSONS   FOR  BOYS 

Need  we  a  lesson  for  our  younsr 
boys,  we  can  point  to  the  boyhood  of 
Abe  Lincoln, 
amidst  hard- 
ships and  toil, 
with  his  persist- 
ent yearning  to 
make  something 
of  himself  —  his 
thoroughness  in 
both  work  and 
study  —  his  fi- 
delity to  truth 
and  his  mental 
honesty.  Our 
boys  today  who 
find  opportunity 
for  education 
easy  and  abun- 
dant, ought  to 
be  told  how  he 
actually  walked 
miles    to   borrow  ,First,    ^cture,^iiht 


a  grammar.  He 
once  said  to  his 
cousin:     "Denny, 


beard.  Date,  1561,  after 
reaching  Washington, 

—Chicago  Historical 
Society    phoio. 


THE  AMERICAN  IDEAL       9 

the  things  I  want  to  know  are  in 
books.  My  best  friend  is  the  man 
who  will  get  me  one." 

Although  entirely  seif-educated,  his 
cousin  Dennis  Hanks  says  of  him  as 
a  boy:  "There  was  just  one  thing  Abe 
Lincoln  didn't  know.  He  didn't  know 
how  to  be  mean,  to  do  a  mean  thing, 
or  to  think  a  mean  thought.  When 
God  made  'Old  Abe,'  he  left  that  out 
for  other  men  to  divide  up  among 
'era." 

BUSINESS  INTEGRITY 

While  Lincoln  never  was  a  very 
good  "business  man,"  as  we  define 
that  term  today,  yet  he  knew  enough 
of  basic  business  integrity  so  that,  al- 
though he  failed  in  business,  his  spirit 
was  restless  and  unhappy  until  he 
paid  off  every  dollar  of  his  business 
debts.  He  did  not  get  all  his  "store 
debts"  paid  until  long  after  he  became 
a  lawyer,  but  until  they  were  paid  he 
deprived  himself  of  all  the  comforts 
and  mar  y  of  the  necessities  of  life. 

PROFESSIONAL  INTEGRITY 
By  far  the  most  notable  trait  in  Lin- 
coln as  a  lawyer  was  his  unwilling- 
ness to  take  an  unjust  cause.  I  know 
the  sophistry  that  will  be  advanced 
in  some  quarters  against  this.  With 
Lincoln  it  was  simply  a  physical  and 
moral  impossibility  for  him  to  stand 
for  a  thing  he  thought  unjust.  That's 
why  he  was  a  power  in  a  courtroom. 
While  he  recognized  his  duty  to  his 
client,  he  also  recognized  that  his  duty 
to  society  and  justice  was  first. 


10 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


POLITICAL,  HONESTY 

When  he  was  suggested  for  the 
presidency,  his  opponents  objected  be- 
cause of  his  prior 
political  defeats. 
He  was  sent  back 
to  private  life 
after  a  service  in 
congress  and  was 
twice  defeated 
for  the  United 
States  senate. 

Because  of  this, 
he    was     charged 
with  being  a  fail- 
ure  politically.   A 
close  examination 
of  these  charges, 
however,      shows 
that    it   was     his 
honesty    political- 
ly     that      caused  Lincoin  reading  Posed 
these  poluical  re-  in  1861  in  hi*  study  in 
verses.     Whiie  in  white  house. 
congress    he    was       —Chicago  Historical 
too  honest  in  his  Society   photo, 

convictions  to  approve  the  then  ad- 
ministration's Mexican  policy.  When 
he  ran  for  the  senate  the  first  time  he 
lacked  but  a  few  votes  of  enough  to 
elect  him  and  magnanimously  threw 
his  strength  to  Lyman  Trumbull. 

Had  Courage  of  Convictions 

When  running  the  second  time  and 
against  Douglas,  he  had  the  courage 
to  declare  that  "the  nation  could  not 
endure  half  slave  and  half  free." 
This,  and  like  bold  utterances  lost 
him  the  senatorship,  but  gained  him 
the  presidency.  Lincoln  built  his  po- 
litical Ciouse  on  the  rock  of  principle, 
and  not  on  the  sands  of  temporary 
success  or  expediency.  However,  the 
people  believed  in  him  in  the  end,  and 
he  never  abused  that  confidence. 

Abraham  Lincoln  has  been  called, 
by  some,  a  politician.  If  this  is  so, 
he  was  a  politician  for  country  and 
not  for  self.  He  was  ready  to  sacri- 
fice his  own  prospects  to  make  the  peo- 
ple see  the  truth. 


THE  AMERICAN  IDEAL      11 


AS  HUSBAND  AND  FATHER 

One  of  the  favorite  pictures  of  Lin- 
coln represents  him  reading  to  one  of 
his  boys.  Of  ail 
his  photographs 
he  seems  most  at 
ease  when  sur- 
rounded by  his 
children.  Even  in 
the  busiest  and 
most  trying  time 
of  his  career,  as 
president,  while 
he  was  endeav- 
oring to  act  as 
father  to  the  na- 
tion, he  found 
leisure  to  read 
to  his  son  Tad, 
and  to  join  his 
children  in  their 
studies  and  di- 
versions. He  was  —  .  . 
a  devoted  hus-  * 
band.  His  wife 
was  always  the 
object  of  his  ten- 
der   care    and    patience. 


on  a  Sunday 
morning  in  the  spring 
of  1863. 

—Chicago  Historical 
Society    photo. 

A    devoted 


son,    he   could   not   be  aught   than  a 
devoted   father   and   husband. 

A   TRUE    AMERICAN    TYPE 

Lincoln  was  a  composite  of  all  that 
was  best  in  American  life  He  was  the 
word  "American"  made  flesh.  It  is 
indeed  difficult  adequately  to  define 
the  American  ideal — but  surely  if  any 
one  individual  incarnated  it,  that  indi- 
vidual, was  Abraham  Lincoln. 

James  Russel  Lowell  spoke  of  Lin- 
coln as  a  "new  growth  of  this  new 
soil,  the  first  American."  Whether  or 
no  he  was  the  first,  he  was  without 
question  the  most  conspicuous.  His 
character  is  the  most  influencing  for 
the  bettering  of  the  nation.  Tolstoi 
said:  "Of  all  the  great  national  heroes 
and  statesmen  of  history,  Lincoln  i» 
the  only  real  giant." 


12 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


Best   in  National   Life 

He  was  a  type  of  the  best  In  our 
national    life   and    had    many    of   our 
typical    national 
habits.  He  came 
from    the     com- 
mon people  as  do 
most  of  us.    He 
told  stories,  both 
good     and     bad, 
which    has      be- 
come a    national 
habit.   He     even 
played  the  great 
American    game 
of  baseball.  Stud- 
ied  from     every 
standpoint,  he  is 
about    the    most 
satisfactory    hu- 
man sample  pro- 
duced    not  only 
by  America,  but   - 
by  modern  times  2X.  ta&Al£& 
—the    most    sat-    was  assassinated, 
isfying        when        -Chicago  Historical 
measured  by  the  Society  photo, 

intellect,  by  the  heart  and  by  the  soul 
and  by  his  devotion  to  great  princi- 
ple and  country. 

His  Ends  Unselfish 
Happy  are  we  that  America  has 
such  a  man  for  its  humanized  sym- 
bol. One  of  the  delightful  things 
about  Abraham  Lincoln  is  that  he 
never  held  himself  out,  or  never  set 
out,  to  "set  an  example."  He  lived 
his  life  simply  and  naturally,  de- 
veloped and  spoke  the  thought  that 
was  in  him,  did  the  job  that  was  laid 
out  for  him  to  do,  and  let  his  "ex- 
ample" shift  for  itself. 

He  understood  American  values  and 
used  his  understanding  of  them  for 
unselfish  ends.  As  a  consequence,  he 
is  one  of  the  greatest  examples,  and 
one  of  the  greatest  inspirations  of  hu- 
man history  and  the  very  best  of  our 
•'American   Ideals." 


THE  AMERICAN  IDEAL      13 


This  article  appeared  first  in  The 
Chicago  Daily  Journal  of  Feb.  12, 
1926.  It  is  reprinted  and  distributed 
in  a  limited  edition  by  an  admirer  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  the  great  exemplar 
of  character  and  democracy. 


382 


ai 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILUNOIS-URBANA 

973.7L63B3H78A  C001 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  THE  AMERICAN  IDEAL  CHGO 


12  031797001 


